TikToker Paden Ferguson (@padiano) found a potential allergen in his viral series of TikTok videos exposing ingredients no one expects in their Walmart products. In a recent video, which garnered over 502,900 views, he pointed out how the ingredients themselves may be obscuring complications.
He’s already observed that mini marshmallows may contain tilapia, or how Great Value Butter Flavor Syrup may contain multiple allergens, but in this video he discusses the ingredients themselves.
This time, he begins the video by holding up the Great Value Mild Wing Sauce, and observing: “There’s something weird going on with the Great Value Wing Sauce.”
His camera zooms onto the back of the bottle, showing the ingredients. “The first thing that got my attention was contains eggs. I personally make a lot of wings, and I make my own wing sauce. And I can tell you there are no eggs.”
An egg allergy is one of the most common allergies for infants and small children, though 71% of children age out of the allergy by 6 years old. Approximately 0.9% of all children and 1.3% of all children under 5 years old suffer from some form of egg allergies.
Most of the allergens reside in the proteins found in egg whites, though if you are allergic it is advised you avoid eggs entirely. Even if someone is only allergic to egg whites it is impossible to separate the egg white from the yolk.
One user questioned how Ferguson made wings. “How do you make your wing sauce without eggs?”
@padiano Hey @walmart, this one you may actually want to pay attention to. #greatvaluebrand #walmartfinds #walmartwings #allergens #warning ♬ original sound – Paden Ferguson
Another responded, “I’ve never heard of anyone putting eggs in wing sauce.”
Some shared their recipes:
“Cayenne pepper sauce, butter, seasoning.”
“Melted butter + Texas Pete + (brown sugar).”
The video continues as he zooms on the back of the bottle, showing the ingredients. “But there’s something else.” Ferguson points to the words Worcestershire sauce. “This contains that sauce… What’s interesting about that is I bought that brand.”
He then takes out a bottle of Great Value Worcestershire Sauce and points to the ingredients list. “On here, it says not may contain, but it does contain anchovies.” The words “Contains Anchovies”‘” were in bold white print on the bottom of the bottle. “But the wing’s sauce doesn’t list that as an allergen. They’re both Great Value. So, are they using a different sauce for this or did they forget to list an allergen?”
According to the Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA), companies are required to list any of the eight major food allergens in the ingredients in plain English. In addition to the ingredients list there may also be a “Contains” statement which must either go after the ingredients list or next to it on the package. Milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans (the Big Eight) may also be listed in a separate “contains” section. If they are listed in the “Contains” section then “they must be identified by their common English name and not a chemical compound, though they can be listed as a chemical compound in the ingredients section.”
It’s unclear if there’s any potential foul on Great Value’s behalf when it comes to the anchovies that may or may not be used in the type of Worcestershire that goes into this particular wing sauce. We’ve reached out to Walmart for more info.
Anchovies are a traditional ingredient to Worcestershire sauce, but there are vegan options. This sparked a conversation about why it wasn’t listed on the wings sauce label.
“Egg allergy mama here and we have to be so careful!” one user said.
Another said, “This! My son is allergic to soy and there are hidden soys everywhere.”
“Maybe it has to have a significant percentage to make them report the contaminates?“ a user replied.
“My fish allergies noticed now I know why,” added another.
Others highlighted how Worcestershire sauce is made, and the variety of Walmart’s supply chain with comments like:
“Walmart uses so many different co-packers so they’re not going to be the same.”
“You think they use their bottled sauce? It’s a different sauce made for that specific product.”
“They use a concentrate.”
Many criticized Great Value.
“My daughter has multiple food allergies and Great Value is a very untrusted brand in the food allergy community.”
“Also that it contains a bio engineered food ingredient…mostly all Great Value has that.”
“Is made with corn syrup and sugar it’s a problem and it should be changed I am allergic to strawberries and I can’t tell you how many times I have.”
“It used to say on that wing sauce anchovies so I stopped buying it cause that’s weird.”
“Thank the FDA, they allow a 20% margin of error. I’m celiac-get hives/throat swelling, experienced this one too many times on unlabeled stuff.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Ferguson and Walmart via email for further comment.
